Supreme Court Denies Amazon Warehouse Workers Pay for Security Screening

In a 9-0 vote, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday morning that employers don't have to pay their employees for the time they spend waiting in line for security checkpoints at the end of their shifts.

The central question was simply, "Is this work?" Every day, Amazon warehouse workers line up for an airport-style security check for as long as 25 minutes without pay, so that they can be searched for stolen goods

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the mandatory screening process is not a "principal activity" of jobs in the warehouse under the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore is not subject to compensation. In doing so, the Supreme Court reverses a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that found screenings were actually vital to workers' jobs – both for themselves and their bosses – and should be compensated.

CWA has been a longtime supporter of Amazon warehouse workers, both in the U.S. and Germany. In February, CWAers and other activists rallied outside Amazon's worldwide headquarters in Seattle to show their solidarity with German Amazon workers who have been carrying out rolling strikes since May 2013 to push Amazon to negotiate with the German union ver.di.

This week more than 500 German workers at two Amazon warehouses went on strike again to protest their pay and working conditions. Read more here.